A Brief History
Pacific GeoLab is an indirect descendent of Potomac Museum Group (PMG), a renowned Minnesota education and research company that thrived for thirty years. PMG was originally formed by Jon Kramer as a student cooperative group at the University of Maryland in the late 1970’s. The Group traveled the country excavating fossils and minerals for education and research. From its meager origins subsisting on the efforts of inspired geology undergraduates, PMG grew to become a respected leader in the museum and education industry. In 1985 Jon moved the operation to Minnesota and brought in Hal Halvorson as a full partner. As it turned out, Jon and Hal were a dynamic duo and the business took off.
By the early 1990s PMG operated several major excavations across the country, four retail stores in the Twin Cities, and a vibrant wholesale education materials business. At that time Jon and Hal spent 8 – 9 months in the field each year. For almost ten years we operated a dinosaur excavation in the high desert of Wyoming, bringing school groups out from the Twin Cities. We also excavated fossil ferns in Pennsylvania, stromatolites in Minnesota, agatized coral in Georgia, fossil fish in Wyoming, trilobites in Utah, Ice Age mammals in California, and many other fossils at locations around North America.
Eventually, however, the partners got sick of the sales aspect and closed the stores. They refocused the wholesale business toward educational museum exhibits. From that point, PMG became a leader in natural history touring exhibits, producing several landmark exhibitions that toured over the next dozen years:
1996 – ELEPHANTS! 50 Million Years of Evolution / 15,000 square feet
1999 – Manatees: The Edge of Extinction / 5,000 square feet
2003 – Dinosaur World Tour / 200,000 square feet
2009 – Dinosuar World / 6,000 square feet
By the late 2000s, rents were going up, museum budgets were shrinking, and competing touring exhibits came onto the market. It became a struggle to survive. Rather than wither away slowly, Hal and Jon made the tough decision to close down Potomac Museum Group and go separate ways.
But you can’t take the soul out of the person! Even with PMG winding down, every year Jon and his wife Julie Martinez would travel the country collecting rocks, minerals, and fossils. They expanded their scope and began compiling guidebooks for various states that gave folks the lowdown on the greatest natural history sites of the region. Through an international publisher, they and their friend Vern Morris produced:
2007 – Arizona Journey Guide
2007 – Colorado Journey Guide
2009 – New Mexico Journey Guide
2009 – California Underground
It was fun, but it wasn’t much of a living. So, Jon and Julie got into the solar business, founding Sundial Solar Consultants in Florida and then moving it to Minnesota, where it became simply Sundial Solar. The company grew rapidly and evolved into Sundial Energy. After many years with a long and fruitful sojourn in the solar industry, they sold the business and returned once again to their natural history roots.
